Checkmate
by tbka
Summary: With Fiyero dead Elphaba begins to fall into despair. Still hiding from the Ozians she realizes her only hope lies with Glinda. Risking both their lives she returns to the Emerald City and, against all advice, shows herself to Glinda and begs for help.
1. Chapter One

**Checkmate**

_**Summary:**__ With Fiyero dead Elphaba begins to fall into despair. Still hiding from the Ozians she realizes that her only hope lies with Glinda. Risking both their lives she returns to the Emerald City and, against all the advice Fiyero had ever told her, shows herself to Glinda and begs for her old friends help. But has Glinda changed to the point of being unrecognizable? And what will become of Elphaba now that she has lost all hope?_

_**Genre:**__ Drama/Tragedy_

_**Rating:**__ T (for future chapters) _

_**Author's Notes:**__Based off the musical. Please be aware that, as anyone who has read any of my other fanfics would know, I am horrible with updating in any sort of timely matter so please be aware of that._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Wicked, or Elphaba, or Glinda, or any of its other characters. I also don't own any of the actors and actresses that have played/are playing their roles (though if I could just meet Idina Menzel, even for a few seconds, my life would be complete and I could die happy)._

**Please R&R!**

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**Chapter One:**

The night seemed darker than usual as the cold breeze brushed against tear-stained cheeks and whipped tangled black hair across red-rimmed eyes.

"Fiyero…" the grief-stricken woman muttered as she stumbled over the twisted forest floor.

So many times she had fallen to her knees; remaining huddled in the mud for hours at a time. But always she managed to drag herself back to her feet and force herself to move on. She couldn't stay so near to him; so close to his lifeless body. If they found him they would find her. She had to run away.

"Always running…" she whispered. "Always running… Fiyero. It's all I've ever done." She stopped, resting her hand against a tree trunk to steady her wavering form.

It seemed so cold to her. Was it winter already? To her it seemed like it had been summer just yesterday but the heavy raindrops that fell sharply against her skin and already soaked hair told her that it was clearly no longer summer. Her torn clothing caught the lower branches as she once again began making her way through the forest.

She walked slower now as her body began to fail her. Every step brought with it the chance of falling; and every fell brought with it the chance of death. In this freezing cold, with the rain and the snow, a person wandering about with no fire to warm them risked the very real horror of death.

Not that this particular woman feared death.

She cold see her breath in the air as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Her shaking form and tears caused her vision to swim and waver dangerously.

A fallen log upon the forest floor, one that her wavering vision did not see, caught her foot and she stumbled, tried to catch herself, but ultimately fell into the seeping cold mud.

The rain turned to snow and she watched her hand as her skin was slowly covered with porcelain-white flakes. She made no attempt to move, to stand, as she watched the snow fall upon her hand.

She smiled softly, her eyes reflecting none of the merriment, as she whispered; "Now that's better, is it not, Fiyero?" She chuckled, her laugh sounding disconnected from her body. "If only my skin had always been that white. White like everyone else's." Her voice cracked as a new wave of sobs shook her body.

Swallowing the lump in her throat she dragged herself back up to a standing position with the help of a nearby tree. She tried to shake the snow from her hair but the movement sent her head spinning and she vaguely wondered when the last time she ate had been. She stood still, staring at her hand upon the tree. If she remembered correctly, which she wasn't sure she did, her hand probably shouldn't be shaking.

She sighed, the broken sound matching her broken heart, and took one step. Then another. And another. One more.

Then she fell. Her body collapsed; not from log or rock but of its own accord. She had pushed it too far as she had struggled to distance herself from the dead body she had left so many miles behind her. She dearly wished to believe that she had left the body to rot in order to save herself from those that would hunt her if they knew she lived. But deep down, in the depths of her soul where she no longer dared to tread, she knew she left the body without a second glance to fool herself.

To leave him there, upon the forest floor with no burial and no ceremony, was to lie to herself. She could pretend she had left him as he slept. Left him to protect him.

"Fiyero…" Her voice was weak as her eyes refused to stay open and her body shivered as unconsciousness slowly seeped into her mind.

She knew he was dead. She could feel it in her heart. She had seen his death. Seen it in a vision no different then the vision that had shown her her sister's death. She had rushed to his side; rushed as fast as she could only to find him dieing upon the forest floor.

Spells could only do so much and the one she had cast all that time ago to save him from his torture had not done enough. It was the first time she had regreted leaving the Grimmerie behind. She wondered, vaguely, if there was another spell within its pages that could've saved him for the first one had not done all she had hoped.

They had parted some time ago. For what reason she could no longer recall. But they had parted on ill feelings and harsh words; neither had made any attempt to contact the other.

"Would you have died, Fiyero, if I had been there?" she muttered, her eyes closed tightly as her body shuddered in the freezing mud.

Her hand clutched tightly to her tattered and worn broom. Why she still kept it she did not know for she had not flown for a very long time. When she flew to Fiyero's aid it had been the first time she had flown since they had both fled Oz; since the day she had supposively died.

She wondered if she would've been faster had she flown more. She wondered if she would've been smarter, would've seen this coming sooner, had she still had the Grimmerie. She wondered if every one would've been better off had she not gone to Shiz in the beginning; or better yet, if she just hadn't been born. Every one would still worship the Wizard and there would be no Animals left. She was beginning to wonder if that would've been such a bad end to it all? After all, once all the Animals were nothing more than just plain animals no one would remember a time when they could speak. And it is hard to care for something that is beyond recollection.

"You're thinking wicked thoughts," the woman said to herself with a shaking voice. Snow had collected in her hair and clothes and was slowly burying her beneath its pure white softness. It felt warm against her skin; something which she knew was not right.

"As long as your mine we'll borrow the moonlight…" Her voice wavered as tears fell from her shut eyes. They froze against her skin before they had a chance to fall to the ground. "…and see how we shine."

The snow fell lightly as the sun broke above the mountain and pierced through the forest canopy to fall upon the woman lying, heart-broken, on the forest floor. Half her body was covered in snow as she cried softly and felt her heart shattering just a little but more with every second that passed.

The light from the sun framed tangled black hair and shone against a tear-stained face. She opened her eyes as the sun warmed her skin. For a few moments she simply stared at the blinding whiteness until she could focus her exhausted mind. She tried to stand but succeeded only in managing to push herself up onto her knees with her hands out in front of her on the ground to support the weight of her shaking frame; not that their was much weight left there for her to support.

She stayed there for a passage of time that she did not care to mark. Deep breath after deep breath was taking into her burning lungs but it didn't help to relieve her headache or still her spinning vision. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that she felt strong enough to attempt to continue on her.

Her first attempt at standing failed as her shaking legs could not carry her weight and her balance seemed to have fled her. She tried again. And again. The fourth, fifth, and sixth attempts also were futile. It wasn't until her seventh attempt did she actually become successful and even then, her success was a shaky accomplishment. Her vision was no longer just wavering but had become black around the edges and she was finally beginning to realize how close to unconsciousness she was.

She stumbled forward a few steps; pushing herself from tree to tree in an attempt to keep herself steady and balanced. She knew one misstep, one fall, and she would not get up again for a very long time… if not ever again.

"Fiyero," she whispered, her voice seeming to turn to frost before her eyes. "I tried… I always tried but it never seemed to work as it should have."

The snow was falling thicker now, impeding her already faltering vision and causing her to stumble, nearly falling, more then she would like.

"We dreamed a life for ourselves. We dreamed we'd disappear and start over. Take nothing but ourselves and flee this place. We'd go. Just go. Go far, far away. Down somewhere. Somewhere where no one would find us. We'd start over. Start anew." She stumbled and this time did not manage to catch herself on a tree. She crashed to her knees on the forest floor, the mud now frozen and covered in a thick layer of snow. Her hands shot out just in time to catch herself from striking her head on what she was sure was now a layer of ice underneath the snow,

"We'd fend for ourselves," she continued, knowing that she was now rambling but powerless to stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth. "We start a new life just for ourselves. We would mingle our souls… slowly weaving into each other. We would know love; know it as thoroughly as we knew loneliness."

Her voice faltered as a fresh new wave of sobs choked her body. She noticed that she was no longer shivering, that she no longer felt cold. She knew that was not right, that the temperature had not risen enough to still the coldness that coursed through her body.

"We… we… we dreamed it all. Planned… planned every step we… we would take." The words came between wretched sobs and hiccupping tears. "Why then? Why… why then did our… our plan fail? Why then Fi… Fiyero? Why?"

She threw back her head and let out a mournful sound; something half between a wail and a laugh. It echoed in the forest. Reverberating off the trees and seemingly swirling all around her pitiful form. It lasted far longer then she meant it to but the relief she wished it would have granted her did not come. The grief in her soul was no less as it had been moments before.

"Why?" she questioned as her voice, hoarse from crying, fell to barely above a whisper. "I never… never meant to do wrong."

Her body shuddered one last time before it failed her completely and she fell into a heap in the snow. With the last strength that she possessed she curled up into the fetal position and buried her head into her knees.

Her green skin stood out in stark contrast as the snow fell lightly; burying her in its white blanket. Her last words before unconsciousness took her were soft and muffled.

"I never meant to be wicked."


	2. Chapter Two

"_I never meant to be wicked."_

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**Chapter Two:**

The green woman's eyes felt heavy and leaded as she tried to open them. She couldn't quite remember what had happened or why she felt so very, very cold. She didn't understand the heavy feeling that encompassed her body. To her it almost felt as if she was in some sort of suffocating coffin.

Breathing was becoming difficult and she couldn't understand why. The coldness that had seeped into her body was making her mind hazy and focusing was nearly impossible.

Her eyes still refused to open so instead she tried to move her body but even that simple action would not occur. She started to panic and her breath came in fast, short gasps. Her body seemed as if it was frozen in ice and it was a helplessness that she did not enjoy.

She feared she might be dieing.

Something in her mind seemed missing. Some memory of something that had occurred had seemed to have fled her mind. She knew she had to remember, that it was important, but for some reason she could not.

She laid there in still silence as she tried to calm her racing mind and open her eyes. Eventually enough of her strength returned so that she could just manage to blink her eyes open.

Her sight was assaulted by pure white. For a moment she thought she had gone blind in some strange way but she soon realized that the white that assaulted her sight was nothing more than snow. She watched as her short breaths fogged up the small bubble of air that was captured underneath her snowy coffin.

Coffin of snow?

She started to panic again as she realized that she was trapped underneath a heavy layer of snow that had frozen her to the bone. It was this snow that had deadened her mind and slowed her body to the point of near death. So close to dieing she had come and she knew that if she had not awaken at the time that she did then she probably would never had awaken.

For some reason she did not care whether she lived or died. She knew that that feeling came with some sort of memory that she could not remember. And for some reason that she could not explain she felt as if she did not know if she truly wanted to remember.

Her hand clenched around smooth wood and she felt suddenly more calm as the broom in her hand made her feel safe again. With a deep breath she gathered the little energy she had and tried to get up but the snow packed around her body was far too heavy for her weak body to move under. Despair at her situation began to stir within her and she realized her only hope was to use a spell to rid herself of the snow around her. But she had not the strength nor the concentration necessary to perform such a task.

Still, she felt that she had to try.

Another deep breath took away the majority of the air still left underneath the packed snow and she closed her eyes in concentration. The broom in her hand warmed slightly but nothing else happened. With her strength all but gone the woman trapped beneath the snow let her body relax into the coldness as despair took her soul in its grip. Breathing became difficult as the air around her became so thin that it carried very little oxygen for her.

Suddenly a warm glow seeped through her white prison walls and flakes of snow began to fall lightly on the green woman's gaunt face. She blinked a couple of times as snow fell into her eyes and irritated them. She tried to move her hand to shield her face but no strength remained in her body to make such a movement. She had no choice but to stay silent and wait for whatever may come to come. She was unsure whether or not her snowy coffin was simply beginning to collapse on top of her and suffocate her or whether something else was happening; something she could not comprehend in her exhausted state.

A hand peeked through the snow and the woman took in a sharp, deep breath as fresh air rushed into her snowy coffin for the first time in hours. She watched, in breathless fear, as the hand brushed away more and more snow. Soon a second hand joined the efforts and eventually a large enough hole was created that a face could be seen.

"Bri… Brianna?" the green woman whispered, her voice harsh and raspy.

"And what, may I ask, are you doing beneath the snow Miss Elphaba?"

"I've… I've for… forgotten," she replied, her voice shaking with cold and exhaustion. "And… and I don't think I wa… want to remember."

"You look positively pale and frozen," Brianna said as she continued to push away the snow from the woman buried beneath it. "We must get you out of here and warm."

"You… you can… cannot help me."

"Miss Elphaba you know I cannot do that."

"I… I have done some… something wicked."

"And what would that mean, Miss Elphaba?" Brianna asked with a small smile as she, somehow, seemed to give of the impression that she knew exactly was Elphaba was talking about.

"I… I cannot re… remember."

Brianna pushed the last of the snow away and gently lifted Elphaba up and out of her snowy coffin. "Nevertheless, come. We must get you dry and warm."

Elphaba shivered in Brianna's arms and her broom fell from her limp hand. "Bria–"

"I know," Brianna interrupted as she bent down and scooped up the worn broom from the ground.

She clutched Elphaba closer to her body as she picked her way through the forest in an attempt to find a suitable glade to stop in. After what seemed like hours, but was probably no more than ten minutes, Brianna broke through the underbrush and found herself in a small clearing.

"This should do just fine Miss Elphaba, don't you think?" Brianna said as she kneeled down and laid her companion down on the driest part of the glade that she could find.

"Elphaba?" Brianna asked quietly as she took off her tattered coat and laid it beneath the green woman's head as a make-shift pillow. "Elphaba?" she asked again when she got no reply.

Elphaba laid as still as stone. Her body no longer had the strength to even shiver as it began to fail her. Brianna quickly realized that she had to get the ill woman as warm as possible as quickly as possible and she set about making a fire. Within a few minutes she had Elphaba lying beside a warm fire, stripped of her clothing, and wrapped tightly in dry blankets.

As time went on the sun rose and set three times before Brianna began to become truly worried about Elphaba's lack of movement. She knew that the woman must have been buried for a quite a long time but still, shouldn't she, at the very least, be conscious by now?

Brianna kneeled down beside the green woman. "Miss Elphaba?" she asked quietly as she gently shook the young woman. No response. "Miss Elphaba?" she tried again, shaking the unconscious woman a little harder. Still, no response. "Please. Miss Elphaba. You must wake up." Brianna tried yet again but still, no response.

Brianna sighed and sat back on her heals. She watched the shallow rise and fall of Elphaba's chest as she took short, sharp breaths. The forest was quiet; seemingly holding its breath, just as Brianna did, as they waited for the unconscious woman to wake up.

It took nearly two more days before any sign of life came from the green woman who laid, unconscious, beside the fire. It was a moan that escaped the blue-tinged lips that brought Brianna from her sleep and caused her to rush to the woman's side.

"Miss Elphaba?" Brianna asked in a hush tone as she kneeled down beside the woman. "Miss Elphaba, can you hear me?"

Brown eyes fluttered open as Elphaba's mind dragged itself out of its unconsciousness. "Bri… Brianna?"

"I am here Miss Elphaba and do not worry, you are safe." Brianna traced her hand down the side of Elphaba's face. "My friend, I thought I had lost you."

"Where are we?" Elphaba asked as she let her eyes slide shut again.

"The forest. You got yourself buried beneath the snow." Brianna said with a small chuckle. "Would you mind gracing me with the reason why, Miss Elphaba?"

"I… I cannot remember."

"So you said before. Perhaps some food will help you regain your strength and return your memory to you."

Elphaba shook her head slowly. "I… I… a… am… not hungry."

Brianna smiled. "Your shivering and you have not eaten since I rescued you nearly six days and who knows how long before then was your last meal. You must eat something."

Slowly, and very cautiously, Elphaba propped herself up on her elbows. The blankets that were wrapped tightly around her body came loose and gently slipped from her upper body; exposing bony shoulders and a veined neck. "Do you… do you…" she stuttered, "…know wha… why I left? Why… I am ou… out here?"

Brianna shook her head as she grabbed the edges of the blanket and gently wrapped them back over Elphaba's shoulder. "No. At least, not in full. You left in a hurry. Something about a vision… a vision like Nessa's or something of the like."

Elphaba turned questioning eyes towards Brianna. "A… a vision?"

"Yes. And something, something about Fiyero. I think. Though I'm not sure."

"Fiyero!" Elphaba's voice rose in surprise and fear and then, suddenly, her eyes widened in an emotion that Brianna could not quite place.

"Miss Elphaba, what is wrong?"

"Fiyero…"

"What, what about Fiyero?" Brianna asked but Elphaba dropped her head and let her eyes shut to try and stop the flood of tears that were ready to fall.

"Fiyero…" It seemed his name was the only word that the exhausted, green-skinned woman could manage to choke out. "Fi… Fiyero…"

"Miss Elphaba!" Brianna exclaimed in concern as she took her companions shoulders in her hands and gave her a not-so-gentle shake. "Miss Elphaba!"

"Fiyero…"

"Miss Elphaba please! What is wrong? What has happened to Fiyero!"

"He's dead!" Elphaba's voice came out quiet and yet, strangely, also loud. "Dead!" The green woman pulled away from Brianna's touch and scrambled backwards; stopping only when her hand touched the flame of the nearby fire. "I… I… it was me!"

Brianna's eyes softened with grief. "So you've remembered."

Elphaba frowned in confusion, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. "What… what is tha… that suppose to me?"

"I knew Miss Elphaba. I saw him, or rather, I saw his body. The spell failed in the end, didn't it?"

"Why… why are you saying this?" Elphaba's voice was shaking; but no longer just from the cold.

"I'm sorry Miss Elphaba. I really am."

Elphaba stood up slowly, clutching the blankets tightly around her naked body. "What… whatever are you ta… talking about?"

"I used to worship you. You were great once Miss Elphaba but now… now you've fallen and I couldn't stand by and watch." Tears welled up in Brianna's eyes. Tears that mirrored Elphaba's own. "You are doing wicked things without meaning too."

Elphaba took a few shaky steps forward. "What… what have you done Brianna? Why do you spe… speak of such things?"

Brianna's voice dropped to such a low whisper that Elphaba had to strain to hear her as she said; "They know Miss Elphaba… they know."

"Who? Brianna who?" Elphaba's eyes, now shedding tears and red-rimmed, widened in fear as she begun to realize what Brianna was saying. "Who knows what?"

"I told them. I told them that you are alive."

"You what!" Elphaba's eyes widened in shock as she stared at Brianna's ashamed face.

"I had to! You've done wicked things! You had to be stopped!"

"I've done no such things!"

"Think! Miss Elphaba think of what you've done! Fiyero… Fiyero is just one of them! All those spells… all those attempts. How many didn't turn out wicked? Not many, not many at all."

"I… I…" Elphaba stammered as she found herself at a loss for words.

"You see, even you cannot defend yourself. Miss Elphaba you are out of control!"

"I am doing what is right!"

"And you are failing! You always have failed!"

Elphaba stepped back in horror at the words that Brianna spoke. Words that cut her like a knife. Words that she had always feared were true. Words that she was beginning to believe were true. "Brianna…"

Brianna just scowled at Elphaba and then tossed the green woman her clothes and her broom. "If you flee now perhaps you will be able to hide for a few more days."

"How many?" Elphaba whispered. "How many know?"

"Only those that need to."

Elphaba bent down and picked up her clothes; cautiously she put them on, never taking her eyes off of Brianna. "You betrayed me," she muttered as she straightened up; blankets now discarded on the ground and her broom in her still shaking hand.

"You're trembling," Brianna said.

The simple words dragged Elphaba's mind into the past. Back to a time where she had been full of determination and hope. Back to a time where her best friend stood beside her encouraging her. Back to a time where she didn't fully comprehend the consequences of defying the Wizard.

A large crash and many muttering voices dragged Elphaba from her trance and she shook her head slightly to clear her head. She turned to leave, turned to run away from the Ozian Guards that she knew were just outside the glade now, but was stopped by a hand clenching tightly around her boney wrist.

"I'm sorry Miss Elphaba but I cannot let you go."

"Brianna!" Elphaba tried to pull her wrist from Brianna's iron-tight grasp but her weakened body had not the strength. "Let. Me. Go!"

"Miss Elphaba I cannot do that. I'm sorry."

"No your not!" Elphaba's voice rose in anger and frustration and her natural magical talent came out in full force.

The green-skinned woman stared in horror and helpless as her magic surged through her body and, through the contact of Brianna's hand on her wrist, entered Brianna's body. Unable to handle the overload of magic in her body Brianna fell limply to the ground, her hand slipping off of Elphaba's wrist.

Brianna was dead.

Elphaba could do nothing but stay still and stare in horror at what she had done; what she had not meant to do. The guilt stirred inside her – mixing with the grief already settled from Fiyero's death and causing a wretched, choking sob to bubbling up the exhausted, green-skinned woman's throat and escape, in a low murmur, out of her mouth.

She dropped to her knees, broom falling from a limp hand, as her body began to shake violently from all the grief and guilt building up inside her soul. It felt, to her, as if she would explode at that very moment. She didn't mean to kill Brianna… she had just wanted to get away. She had just wanted to save herself.

"_Wicked."_

The single word was whispered into her ear and she whirled around to find herself face to face with an Ozian Guard. In her shock she made no attempt to flee as he grasped her upper arm and hoisted upwards.

Her broom lay useless on the forest floor.

"Killing again?" The guard sneered as he peered around the tall woman in his grasp to lay eyes on the lifeless body on the ground. "Two in one week. You truly must be the Wicked Witch of the West."

"Of course I am," Elphaba whispered. "I'm green. It's the only wickedness I ever really had until it was thrust upon me."

The punch from the Ozian Guard took Elphaba by surprise and sent her sprawling to the forest floor. She watched as blood dripped from her split lip and began to pool beside her broom.

Her eyes widened in shock and realization. In a split second she had the worn and weathered broom in her hand and in the next moment she was atop of it and flying low through the forest.

It didn't take long for the broom beneath her to falter and she tumbled to the ground. She made a sharp hissing sound as she landed on her right side and the audible sound of cracking ribs reached her ears. She laid there, as still as stone, for nearly an hour before she could muster up the energy to move.

Unfortunately an hour was too long to wait for as soon as she had crawled over to her discarded broom and placed a hand on its gnarled wood handle the Ozian Guard burst through the underbrush and nearly stepped on her. She yelped in surprise and tried to scurry backwards but fiery pain shot up through her cracked ribs and a small moan escaped her lips as she crumpled in on herself.

"Not so strong anymore, are you?" The Guard murmured as she grabbed the collar of Elphaba's dress and yanked her to a standing position. "Has your wickedness drained your powers?"

"Let. Me. Go," she growled as she tightly clenched her hand around her broom.

"The Wicked Witch of the West in my hands," the Guard said, completely ignoring Elphaba. "How joyous an occasion it will be when you are killed… _publicly_. And what an honour I shall receive for capturing you."

"I'm already dead,_remember_!" Elphaba shot back as she tried to pull free from the Guard's grasp but failed miserably.

"Ah, so everyone thinks. But they will soon know the truth, we will see to it."

"We?" Elphaba questioned in confusion, she had not noticed anyone else but the one Guard.

"Yes, we." The Ozian Guard, clearly the captain, nodded to something, or someone, behind him and a swarm of about ten more Guards came out from their hiding spots within the forest's underbrush.

"And _we_," the Ozian Captain said with a sickening grin on his face, "are going to have some fun with you, pretty one, before we turn you in."

Elphaba froze in shock, her body unable to move even though her mind screamed at her to do _something_, as the Ozian Captain nearly tore the top of her dress down. A straggled gasp, almost a whine, escaped her lips as she tried to step backwards but the Guard's grip on her was too strong. Within moments a few of the other Guards joined their captain in an attempt to get a piece of their captive.

In the next moment Elphaba could not have described what happened for she herself could not remember clearly. She had felt the broom in her hand grow warm, and then hot, and then a fiery pain surge through her whole body.

Then nothing. No sound. No laughing, cackling, Ozian Guards. Nothing.

Just bodies. Dead bodies. Ozian Guards lying on the ground as still as Brianna, as still… as still as Fiyero. Her magic had saved her again but at what cost?

Elphaba stared wide-eyed at the scene before. Choking back a sob she turned and fled. Fled as far and as fast as she could until her weakened body could carry her no more and she tumbled, very ungracefully, to the ice-covered forest floor. Her ribs burned as she forced her body to take deep breaths in order to calm her mind. Tears flowed freely down her face as grief and guilt seemed to squeeze her heart and shatter it into an uncountable amount of fragments.

"Brianna was right," she choked out between strangled gasps of air and wretched sobs. "I'm wicked. Wicked through and through."


	3. Chapter Three

_**Author's Notes: **I just want to say that I'm one of those authors that likes to create a multitude of questions that are never really answered until some time later (sometimes longer than other times). For example, in this story, already the question of who exactly Brianna is/was has popped up. Be patient, in time that question (along with any others that are raised throughout the course of this story) will be answered... eventually._

_ And now, on to the story!  
_

_-------- _

"_Brianna was right," she choked out between strangled gasps of air and wretched sobs. "I'm wicked. Wicked through and through."_

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**Chapter Three:**

Glinda felt something was wrong. She couldn't place the feeling; she had no reason to feel as if anything was wrong.

She didn't like the feeling.

The blonde-haired woman let out a small sigh as she brushed out her soft curls. Her recent public appearance had been tiring and she was beginning to despair at her situation. Glinda the Good she might be but her political powers had, over the last few years, been slowly stripped from her.

She was no longer anything more then a public figure. A caring face to relay good news the citizens of Oz. She had failed to do any good. Failed to do what Elphaba had asked.

Elphaba.

The name struck pain and grief through her heart, as always, but for some reason it was that name that brought upon her recent unsettlingly feelings. Glinda shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts and set her brush down on her vanity. It was late, nearly the next day already, and she knew she should be sleeping but her mind would not settle down.

All today, and for the past few days, she had not been able to get her mind off of her dead friend. For some reason she felt the need to think of Elphaba almost constantly. It was distracting and had caused more than a few embarrassing moments during public appearances and political meetings.

_"Glinda?"_

The voice was so quiet, a mere whisper in the shadows, that Glinda wasn't sure she had even heard it. Still, she took a deep breath and turned in her seat to face the direction from which the barely audible sound had come from.

Glinda squealed and jumped up from her seat.

There stood, in the opened balcony doorway, a green-skinned, malnourished woman in torn clothing with a broom clutched tightly in her gnarled hand.

"I… I thought you mi… might've changed rooms," the woman whispered, her voice shaking from more than just her exhaustion.

"I've gone crazy," Glinda murmured as she took a few steps back. "That must be it."

"No, no," the woman said, shaking her head and taking a few steps towards the frightened Glinda. "It's… it's me… Elphaba."

Glinda let out a small breath and shook her head violently. "No… no… no! You're dead! Eight years! You've been dead for eight years!"

"Glinda…" her voice was weak and frightened. "Did you re… really think wa… water would mel... melt me? How… how many ti… times did you hear me sh… showering in th… that room we shared? How… how many?"

"You're not here." It was now Glinda's turn to have her voice be barely above an audible whisper. "I've gone mad."

"No. No you ha… haven't." Elphaba's voice, despite its shaking, had become louder with determination. "Tru… trust me. I na… know madness."

Glinda, still shaking her head, managed to walk, backwards, around her vanity and gingerly sit down on her bed. She buried her head in her hands, disbelief and confusion dominating her mind. "You can't be here," she murmured. "You're dead."

Elphaba quickly crossed the length of the room and kneeled down before her old friend. "Glinda please… please lis… listen to me." She took one of Glinda's hand in her own. The small, porcelain white hand was swallowed up by the two bigger, green ones. "I… I'm here and… and I need your… your help."

The slap took Elphaba by surprise and she fell, with an audible thud, to the floor. Her breathing became ragged and fast as her still sluggish mind tried to comprehend exactly what had just happened.

"You lied to me!" Glinda's voice was high and screechy as her anger boiled over. She cared not who in the palace heard her. "You lied Elphaba! Lied!"

Glinda stood up and stalked towards the fallen woman. Elphaba managed to scoot back a few feet but her painfully protesting ribs forced her to stop. "Please… I was… was on–"

"Shut-up!" Glinda roared as she stood above her old friend. "I mourned for you! I thought you dead!"

"Gli–"

"What about Fiyero then! Is he too still alive!"

Elphaba opened her mouth to speak but her grief choked her voice and she could make no sound form around the lump in her throat except a small whimper.

"Speak!" Glinda's face flushed red in anger far beyond anything Elphaba had ever seen before.

"He was," Elphaba muttered, too quiet for Glinda to here.

"What did you say!"

Elphaba didn't respond as she dropped her head to avoid looking at the tortured face of her friend.

"What!"

"He was alive," Elphaba muttered again, slightly louder than before.

This time Glinda did hear her and her face fell into grief; not that Elphaba could see for she was staring at the torn pattern in her dress instead of at her friend.

"What do you mean, _was_?" Glinda whispered as she dropped to her knees in front of Elphaba. Glinda looked intently at her old friend but Elphaba refused to make eye contact.

"Elphie, please, tell me what happened."

The green woman slowly looked up, encouraged by Glinda's use of her old nickname. "I… I… well… he…" She sighed and paused to collect her thoughts. "The spell did… did not last."

"What spell?"

"All… all tho… those years ago. After… after the Gale Force took him I… I tried to save him. I… I turned him in… into the Scarecrow."

"You what!" Glinda was up on her feet in an instant, rage once again coursing through her body. "Why didn't he tell me! Why didn't he say he was Fiyero!"

Elphaba was on her feet too, though much more gingerly due to her cracked ribs. "We were try… trying to pro… protect you! We could… couldn't tell you!"

"You stole him!" Glinda's eyes flashed in both grief and anger. "You stole him from me! He'd still be alive if it wasn't for you!"

"Do you th… think I don't na… know that!"

"Stop stuttering! It's undignified!"

"I… I would if… if I could! Bu… but I've be… been ou… outside buried be… beneath snow and ha… half conscious for d… days!"

Glinda huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "That's what you get for lying!"

"You… you're as… as chi… childish as ever!" Elphaba's voice rose to an impossible high octave as anger at her own failures expressed itself as anger towards Glinda.

"Oh shut-up! You're the one who ran off _dead_! You're the one who _killed _Fiyero!"

Elphaba closed her eyes and took an awkward step backwards. It almost seemed as if Glinda's words were physically hurting the exhausted woman but she tried desperately to hide her emotions. "Glinda…"

"Don't_Glinda_ me you wrench! You _whore_!"

"It was no… not my choice for him to… to love me," Elphaba whispered, her voice raspy with desperately contained sobs.

"But you let him! And you loved him back!"

"I could… couldn't de… deny him."

"Yet you could deny the Wizard? Could deny your friends? You could deny everything you ever knew to fly around on some God-forsaken broom saving Animals and fighting a losing cause!" Glinda stomped over to her old friend until she was mere inches from her. She had to stand on the tips of her toes in order to be even close to Elphaba's face. "You let him follow you even though you knew it would lead to pain and death! You knew! You could deny everything in your world but him! Why!"

Elphaba tried to step backwards. Tried to separate herself from her enraged friend but she found her back against a wall. She felt trapped. "Glinda…"

"Well you weren't the only one keeping secrets, _Elphie_!" Glinda screamed, her loud voice and close proximity causing Elphaba to visibly flinch.

"Glinda…"

"Stop pleading! It's not becoming of you!" Glinda seemed to grow taller in her anger. "Did you know who your real father was?" she asked, her voice falling to a low, almost desperate, whisper. "It wasn't who you thought it was."

"Wha… whatever are you ta… talking about?" Elphaba's face reflected her utter confusion.

Glinda stepped backwards and away from Elphaba. "Your father wasn't the governor of Munchkinland," she whispered, turning her back to her old friend. "Nor did you and Nessa share the same father."

"You… you are mad." Elphaba took a few steps towards Glinda but froze at her next words.

"He was the Wizard."

Elphaba's voice came out in a loud hiss. "You lie!"

"I do no such thing!" Glinda screamed as she whirled around to face Elphaba. "When you and Fiyero ran off together he offered me a drink to ease my pain. A drink from a bottle identical to the one you used to sleep with! A bottle identical to your mothers!"

Elphaba stood stock still, shaking her head in denial. "You… you lie," she whispered as she closed her eyes to still her tears.

Glinda snarled, an action that did not suit her, and reached into a hidden pocket within the bosom of her dress. From said pocket she withdrew a small, green bottle. "This was yours," Glinda whispered, malice colouring her voice. "And the Wizard's was identical. Do you want it back, _Elphie_?"

Elphaba took a step backwards, eyes still closed and her head still shaking back and forth slightly in denial. "You lie," she muttered but her voice held none of its usual conviction.

"How does it feel to know that the _Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ is you father? How does it feel to be lied to. How Elphaba? How!"

Elphaba collapsed to her knees, burying her head in her hands and trying, desperately, to not show her despair and horror. Her head, however, snapped up as a rush of air went past her ear. She turned her head to follow the sound to see the green bottle, her mother's bottle, hurtle through the air and smash against the wall behind her. Time seemed to slow as the bottle broke into a million or so tiny little green pieces that fell haphazardly on the rose pink carpet. Most of the pieces caught the light from the one lamp in the room and reflected it off the walls and ceilings. However, a few of the pieces caught the desperate and gaunt face of Elphaba and she saw, for the first time, just how exhausted and distraught and… almost mad… that she actually looked to the outside world.

Slowly Elphaba turned her face back to her friend. "Glinda… please…"

Glinda, who was wiping her hand on her dress as if the bottle she previously held had somehow tainted her skin, turned her back on Elphaba again. "Don't… just don't say anything!"

"I… I nee… need your… your help. Glinda… please…" Elphaba's voice was quiet and hoarse as tears fell unchecked down her face. "I… I didn't mean to… to hurt you. I… I –"

"You didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, did you, _Elphie_?"

Elphaba flinched at how angrily Glinda spat out her old nickname. The green woman felt so utterly desperate and alone. How could Glinda not see how much she needed her help?

"Would… would you real… really sit ba… back and let me die? Do… do you not care for… for me at… at all?" Elphaba dropped her eye line to the floor and watched as her tears collected in pools on the carpet and stained the rose pink colour a slightly darker hue.

Glinda snorted and then frowned. "Crying is not becoming of you," she whispered softly.

"You've ch…changed Glinda. And… and I don't thi… think for the bet… better," Elphaba murmured as she squeezed her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to stop the flow of tears that she seemed unable to control.

Glinda's features softened. "We've all changed Elphaba," she replied in a quiet, almost inaudible, whisper.

"It… it was… wasn't suppose to… to happen this… this way."

"You're trembling."

"I… I'm cold."

"You're frightened."

Elphaba sighed as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her sobs, though subdue, were causing her ribs to ache. She knew that she had to get control of herself if she wanted to get anywhere with Glinda. "And if… if I am?"

"Do you think I'm going to turn you in?" Glinda asked, carefully hiding her emotions from her voice.

If Elphaba had been looking at Glinda she would've seen the red-rimmed, grief stricken eyes of her friend that mirrored her own. But, as it was, Elphaba was not looking at her friend for she feared that she would see anger and resentment in those familiar blue eyes.

"I… I don't know wha… what to… to think any… anymore," Elphaba managed to stutter out as her exhaustion was beginning to slow her mind and body down again.

Glinda muttered something that sounded very close to a very unladylike curse under her breath and then sighed. "I… I don't know what to think either," Glinda whispered as she sprawled, back down, on her bed.

"I… I can… can't control my… my _talent_ anymore," Elphaba murmured, spitting out the word 'talent' as if it was poison on her tongue.

Glinda frowned as she stared up at the ceiling. "Whatever does that mean?"

A very audible sigh came from the hunched woman on the floor. "I… I… well… whenever someone tri… tries to… to hurt me some… something just… just happens and well…"

"Well?" Glinda prodded as Elphaba's voice faltered and fell silent.

"I… I kill them."

"You what!" Glinda was on her feet again, rage directed at the green woman who was on her knees with her left arm wrapped tightly around her chest to try and still the pain from her ribs.

"I… I don't mean to. It… it just happens. That… that's why I… I need your help."

Glinda stared at her old friend, anger radiating from every pore in her body. "My help? And what, tell me, could I possible do to help the_Wicked Witch of the West_!"

"Gli–"

Elphaba's words were cut short by a banging on the door and loud, panicked voices. "Your Highness is something wrong?" a Guard shouted through the locked down and Elphaba visible stiffened in fear.

Glinda frantically looked back and forth between her door and the huddled frame of Elphaba on the floor. After a few tense seconds, where neither occupant in the room was quite sure what was going to happen, Glinda finally said; "No… no… everything is okay."

"We heard shouting!" Another voice, a voice very familiar to Elphaba but yet implacable, called out.

"Hide!" Glinda hissed at Elphaba and the green woman tried to scramble up to a standing position but her broken ribs violently protested and she let out a very audible groan in pain as she sunk back down to the ground.

The two woman stayed still in tense silence as they waited to see if the guards outside had heard Elphaba.

"Are you hurt, Miss Glinda?" That same familiar voice called through the door.

"I'm just fine Boq, don't you worry about a thing," Glinda replied, avoiding Elphaba's surprised and questioning gaze.

"Boq?" Elphaba murmured quietly but her questioning voice was not loud enough for Glinda to hear. Or if it was Glinda chose to ignore it.

"You highness," a guard politely said through the locked door. "We must ask you to open this door or else we will be forced to beat it down."

"I am just fine," Glinda replied as she rushed over to Elphaba, as quietly as she could, and tried to help her friend up. "You must hide!" she hissed.

In Glinda's efforts to help Elphaba stand she pulled a little too hard on the green woman's right arm, causing fiery hot pain to shoot up Elphaba's cracked ribs. The green woman moaned, far too loudly, in pain.

The two women stood frozen, Glinda in the middle of trying to pull Elphaba up from the floor and Elphaba in a half crouched, half standing position, as the door to Glinda's private quarters suddenly burst open. Elphaba gasped in shock while Glinda stammered over words that she couldn't quite get out.

"The_Witch_?" Boq all but screamed as he laid eyes on the green-skinned woman.

Boq made to step forward in anger but one of the five Ozian Guards standing around him grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. "She's suppose to be dead!" the guard harshly whispered. "The fact that she is _alive_! We don't know her powers!"

Boq spun on his heels. "Did you really believe that _water_, of all things, would melt the Witch? You must be mad!"

"Boq… please…" Elphaba pleaded as she struggled to stand up straight against the pain in her ribs. "Boq…"

"Don't!" Boq screamed as he whirled back around to face the two women. "How dare you! How dare you show your face here! When we're done with you you'll wish you really did melt to death!"

"Boq…" Elphaba took a step backwards to try and distance herself from the angry munchkin.

"You turned me into tin!"

"I… I ne… never meant to!" Elphaba cried out, nearly in tears again. "It… it was an… an accident!"

"Boq, please…" Glinda cut in, keeping a protective hand wrapped around Elphaba's wrist. "Please… just let her go."

Boq turned his eyes, fiery with anger that Glinda did not know he could still feel, towards the blonde-haired public figure. "Stay out of this! She turned me into tin! For what reason? To be a part of her sick games!"

"She saved you from Nessa's wrong spell!" Glinda blurted out before she even had time to think about what she was saying.

"Shut. Up!" Elphaba hissed under her breath.

But the damage was done. "So even you, Glinda, would lie to protect_her_!" Boq's eyes flashed as he angrily pointed at the green-skinned woman that Glinda was so protectively clutching on to.

"It's not –"

"Shu… shut-up Glinda!" Elphaba interrupted the blonde-haired woman. "You don't need to lie for me," she added in a whisper loud enough for Boq to hear.

"Take her to Southstairs," Boq ordered the Ozian Guards in a low, harsh whisper.

"No!" Glinda exclaimed, moving to stand protectively in front of Elphaba as the Guards moved forward.

One of the Guards, probably the captain, looked quizzically between Boq and Glinda as he tried to decide which one's orders to follow.

"Don't listen to Glinda," Boq said. "She's obviously been manipulated by the Wicked Witch."

"Your right Boq," Elphaba murmured as she pulled her wrist free from Glinda's grasp. "Don't try to clear my name!" Elphaba hissed into Glinda's ear as she stepped around the protective blonde. But as she stepped around the blonde she pushed her broom into Glinda's hand and the blonde, taking the hint, hid the object behind her back where, because of her large gown, it could not be seen by the guards.

"Elphie!" Glinda cried out as the Guards took the opportunity to seize the green woman by the arms and drag her out of the room.

Boq followed behind the large group of Ozian Guards as they led Elphaba, who had not the strength to struggle, to Southstairs. The tinman paused at the door and turned around to address Glinda.

"You best keep your tongue in check if you don't want to end up as_Elphie's_ roommate," he warned before leaving; slamming the door behind him.

Slowly Glinda removed the broom, Elphaba's broom, from behind her back and gently held it in front of her in both of her hands. She stared at the worn and tattered wood of the old cleaning utensil that had, all those years ago, been turned into a flying mechanism.

Tears fell unchecked from blue eyes as limp, golden curls bounced slightly in time with shaking shoulders. Sobs echoed off the walls of the private quarters as Glinda collapsed to her knees. Green light shimmered against the broom and a confused Glinda looked up through blurry vision to find the source.

The sun had risen and, in the process, shined on the broken glass from the green bottle that Glinda had so haphazardly thrown against the wall earlier.

"What have I done?" Glinda sobbed out as she looked sadly between the broken glass and the broom. "What have I done?"


End file.
